Page 59 of Save Me
“What the hell are you doing here, Mr Mason?” Oliver sighs with an air of boredom. “Beth reneged on our deal; therefore, she is living with me. You are no longer required.”
“Actually, I’ve come to get her,” he says with an obvious grin to his voice, “and if you won’t let me have her, I will call the cops.”
“Oh, I’m not sure they’ll be of much use to you,” Oliver chuckles arrogantly, “the Chief of Police is a personal friend of mine. I bet I could shoot you right now and get away with self-defense against a well-known drug user. Why, as far I know, you’re a stoned-out junkie trying to rob me senseless!”
“Yeah, we all know you have contacts, silver spoon, but I made sure plenty of people knew I was coming here,” he says with his usual laidback voice. “Besides, I’m guessing it would take you a little while to organize your cronies to come and help you out. In in the meantime, I’m more than happy to make a huge headache for you.”
“A few other stoners from the beach aren’t going to make your case very airtight, I’m afraid,” Oliver replies with a hint of irritation, sounding like there’s a seed of doubt beginning to form in the back of his mind. “Beth stays with me!”
“Who said anything about people from the beach? I’m talking about Beth’s mother!” Bodhi laughs, no doubt with his signature couldn’t-give-a-shit grin. “She’s currently with her solicitor in England. Someone who will be in no way under your thumb. We just had a conference call.” He laughs more heartily, probably over how weird that sounds coming from someone like him. “Anyway, they are ready to call the cops should anything happen to either Beth or me.” For once, Oliver is silent, and that small bud of hope begins to bloom inside of my chest; the one that has the promise of going home. “She’s got a flight back here in about three hours and you are at the top of her list to come and give hell to, asshole!”
“Good,” Oliver says confidently, “I am very much interested in meeting Beth’s mother. She will be made to understand the seriousness of our arrangement. But, out of respect for my fiancé and my future mother-in-law, I will relent, and let them have some time together. Something that they are going to be running out of very soon. Beth may return home with Samuel, my driver. Leo will be her security guard and will be under strict instructions not to let Xander Fenton or any other boy or man near her. BETH!” he yells, prompting me to burst from the doors, thus completely giving away my eavesdropping before I’ve even had a chance to think about it.
When I look into the eyes of my guardian, he studies my face with a deep-set frown and a tight clutch of his fists inside of his pockets. I must look a mess.
“Go and clean up, then come back down here!” Oliver snaps, sounding pissed-off and making no excuses for my appearance.
As soon as I return to the door, moving up and down those stairs in record time, Oliver suddenly grabs hold of my wrist and hauls me back against him. I let out a stifled gasp, panicking that he’s changed his mind and is going to insist that I stay here with him. He looks at Bodhi, then shoves his tongue in my mouth, kissing aggressively in some sort of silent threat, one he likes to give frequently.
“I will be in touch, sweetheart,” he says affectionately with his index finger pressing firmly against the skin under my chin. He forces me to keep my eyes on him until he’s ready to let me go.
“Hey, Oliver,” Bodhi chimes in when he finally releases me, “less tongue,” he adds with a smirk. “Just a suggestion. That looked God awful and I was only a bystander.”
Oliver looks murderous, but in true Bodhi style, he wiggles his fingers to say goodbye before turning the whole hand gesture into just the middle finger. After flipping him the bird, he takes hold of my hand and leads me out to the car that’s already waiting.
“Relax, water baby, I’ll meet you at your place. Don’t say anything to anyone!” Bodhi whispers against my ear before delivering a short, affectionate kiss to my temple.
I simply nod and climb into the sanctuary of Samuel’s car.
I almost cry when my house comes into view, but in all honesty, my water reserves have firmly dried up, so nothing comes. I thank Samuel profusely before leaping from the back seat and racing for the front door like an Olympic sprinter running for gold. Leo, my new, permanent bodyguard, is already stationed outside of my house, looking the epitome of moody and terrifying. The guy could stunt double for Arnold Schwarzenegger from his ‘Predator’ days; God only knows what everyone’s going to say at school tomorrow. They already think I have an abusive boyfriend, and now I have muscle and a fresh wound to my nose.
As soon as I get inside, I take a deep inhale of the familiar washing detergent that Mum always buys, then bolt upstairs with a goofy, relieved grin on my face. I rip the awful dress I have on away from my body and switch on the shower for the sole purpose of washing any semblance of Oliver away from me. I let the hot water rush over my skin while I scrub myself raw with soap.
Time passes and I find myself unable to move away from the jet stream of cleansing water, so stand there indulgently for a while longer. A hand slides around my waist and I begin to scream manically, setting my poor heart to a punishing rhythm all over again. However, when I jump around to face whatever fresh new horror this is, I only see the soft, green eyes of Xander staring down at me. No words are spoken, just a look of relief and a tightening of his hands against my skin. He may well be fully clothed, but it doesn’t stop either of us from leaping into each other’s arms and clinging on for dear life. He begins to kiss me, and I kiss him back with desperation, letting his lips claim me as his instead of Oliver’s.
“Take me now!” I moan inside of his mouth.
It’s all the persuasion Xander needs to undress and lift me against the wall of the shower. It may only be our second time together, but it feels so hot I simply ignore the sting of him entering me, and instead, relish in the feel of his body next to mine. We both moan when he begins to thrust harder under the hot rain of the shower. We move rapidly against the wet tiles as we take each other without any shame or apologies for our lustful urges. He begins to nuzzle into my neck and kiss me softly, just as my climax ignites.
“Oh, God, Xander, I love you…I need you, harder…” I cry into his ear.
“I’m there with you, baby,” he gasps, now breathing heavily, “for always.”
We keep going at this deliciously punishing pace until eventually, we both explode in each other’s arms at the same time. I hold on tighter to the feeling as an ugly realization hits me, one that reminds me that this so easily could have been Oliver, had it not been for Bodhi coming for me this afternoon. I force myself to shake the thought away, just as our kisses begin to slow down and he lets me drop to the floor.
We dry off, suddenly giggling over our rampant session inside of the shower, and with Xander telling me he now has nothing to wear. I give him choice of borrowing some clothes from my eleven-year-old brother, or my dad. To be fair, he’s so tall, he’ll still end up looking like his clothes are too small for him, but neither of us really care right now. I’m just beyond thankful to be here with him, instead of at that house with Oliver Lawrence as both my host and tormentor.
“You guys finished?” Kai asks loudly as he walks inside of my room. My ridiculous friend has his hands shielding his eyes and I can’t help beaming with happiness. “I don’t wanna see anyone bumping uglies in front of me.”
“Kai?!” I laugh before jumping into his arms like I haven’t seen him in months.
“Hey, Rose, how’s my girl?” he asks, pushing back my wet hair. It reveals the extent of Oliver’s handiwork, causing his smile to completely drop.
“I’m ok,” I whisper, feeling a little embarrassed, “for now.”
“Beth!” Bodhi calls from downstairs. “Better make yourself decent. We’ll meet inside your dad’s study. No windows!”
I’ll never take jeans and an old hoody for granted ever again. Being able to wear them as I walk downstairs feels nothing short of amazing. I begin to almost hug my clothes as I enter the windowless office that’s full of Dad’s stuff, including the odd family photograph. It’s the first time I begin to feel mournful over our frayed relationship. He has always been such a big part of my life and used to be my first port of call for advice. Now, he’s just a guy with a photo of me at twelve years old, holding onto my grandmother with a beaming smile on my face. Suddenly, it saddens me to the point whereby I have to rub away a wetness forming under my eyes.